1.3 | the art of cupidity ✓

02 | venus

"HE'S INFURIATING," SHE TELLS ADEENA AS HER BEST FRIEND ADJUSTS HER HIJAB IN THE MIRROR. "And arrogant. He doesn't know when to stop."

Adeena turns around and snaps her fingers before taking in Sora's rugged appearance. "Sounds like somebody I know," she admits, and Sora sticks her tongue out at her before flopping down on her bed once again. "I don't know why you took this deal, though," Adeena says. "Isn't it just going to be another source of stress for you?"

The Korean girl pauses before nodding. "I don't know why either, so let's not revisit that lapse in judgement."

Adeena Malik sends a pearly grin her way and finishes adjusting the purple cloth, spinning around Sora so she can give an approving expression to her outfit. "Is that my long sleeve?"

Her best friend confirms that yes, she's wearing Sora's long sleeve, and no, she won't give it back. But sharing clothes is nothing short of unusual for the two of them, so Sora doesn't think much of it and goes right back to dreading the decisions she'd made in the past forty-eight hours.

"So what did Rylin want again?" Adeena's eyebrows raise as she asks her question, and if her friend weren't so pretty, Sora would've thrown a pillow at her face and messed up the flawless makeup on her skin.

Sora sighs. "He wants me to play double agent for him and Adrian," she admits. "I'm practically stuck inside a testosterone battle with no escape—don't say return the money and just call off the deal, because Adrian's rich and I'm poor, and I really, really need this extra cash."

The girl seated at the vanity laughs. "You're reading my mind now, huh?"

"It's a rare ability, but some people have it," Sora mumbles. "I guess I'm extraordinary."

"Right," Adeena drawls. "An extraordinary matchmaker who doesn't even have a boyfriend herself."

"Want to date me instead?" Sora purses her lips and gets an amused scoff in return, but it's lighthearted.

Her friend turns serious and waves a hand in the air. "You know, you might be pissed because no one's had the balls to approach you the way that he did," she brainstorms. "And you might also be pissed because he called you—what was it? Ice Princess?"

"Ice Queen," Sora grumbles. "Fucking bastard."

"I don't know," Adeena says thoughtfully. "You might need someone to get under that thick skin of yours. He might just be the one to do it."

Sora glares at her. "I hate you."

"I thought you just asked me to be your girlfriend."

***

When Sora tells Adrian that she met Rylin and that it went extremely well (she tried not to laugh at this part), the French boy instructs her to come to the party he's throwing this weekend to prevent Rylin from making a move on someone (he wouldn't say who, but now Sora knows that this someone is Chase Kennedy). She agrees reluctantly and tries not to imagine the smug expression that Rylin would have once she would eventually tell him the news.

It still shocks her that she's putting all of the other applications in her matchmaking business on hold for this particular situation, but Adrian's paying her enough to surpass what she would've had in the first place, and so Sora doesn't complain about the consequences. Being a sophomore at UCLA and a participant in its many clubs and activities, she often lacks free time for herself.

She's not lonely, exactly, but it would be nice if she could relax too, like the groups of college students she sees laughing at the diner or sitting on the campus lawn. Her parents aren't too well off, so she'll eventually have to work off the college debt, and if she thinks about these facts too long, Sora gets an intense migraine.